JANUARY 13, 1968 - Levin, New Zealand...Chris Amon made it two for two in '68 Tasman Cup races, driving his Ferrari to victory in the "Levin International" on the 1.2 mile Levin circuit. Amon was driving a Ferrari 246T F2 chassis powered by a 2.4 liter Dino V6 engine specifically designed for the Tasman series.

1973 - Levin, New Zealand...Graham McRae won round 2 of the annual Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000 on the Levin circuit. McRae was driving a car of his own design, a Chevrolet powered McRae GM1.

1979 - Riverside, California...Darrell Waltrip beat the rain to win the season opening Western 500 NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. Waltrip led the final 14 laps in his DiGard Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo, taking the checkered flag 3 seconds ahead of David Pearson in the Wood Brothers Mercury. Thunder clapped and rain began to fall in the closing laps. Cale Yarborough, Western Grand National star Bill Schmitt and polesitter Donnie Allison rounded out the top five.

Originally posted by rdrcr 1980, Alan Jones won the Argentine Grand Prix (No. 6 variant) in a Willaims Ford. He also was on pole and set fastest lap of the race. The Argentine GP made a return to the calendar in 1979 after a fourteen year break.

Okay, if we're really into proof-reading mode, then it wasn't the No. 6 circuit variant, but No. 15!;)

Originally posted by Jim Thurman 1973 - Levin, New Zealand...Graham McRae won round 2 of the annual Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000 on the Levin circuit. McRae was driving a car of his own design, a Chevrolet powered McRae GM1.

This wasn't a car of his own design, not even in the Brabham- or McLaren-sense, but merely re-badging. The McRae GM1 was originally the Leda LT27...

Originally posted by fines Okay, if we're really into proof-reading mode, then it wasn't the No. 6 circuit variant, but No. 15!;)

Yes we really are Michael... as I find these tidbits, I hope that some sort of proof reading is done! For in most cases, I sure couldn't tell if what I was cutting and pasting was truth or tripe... If you're aboslutely sure, then I'll pass on your correction.

January 15,

1919, Car builder and off-road racer Bill Stroppe was born in Long Beach, California.

1978, Argentine GP. During the winter of 1977-78 Team Lotus perfected the concept of ground-effect aerodynamics. with the Lotus 79, which would become the most successful racing car of Grand Prix racing up to that point. The year began, however, with the old Lotus 78. The team had hired Ronnie Peterson to replaced Gunnar Nilsson. Nilsson signed to drive for the new Arrows team but during the off season it became clear that he was suffering from cancer and would not be fit enough to drive in 1978. Arrows was a new team, led by a number of staff from Shadow, who had become disenchanted with the team. The new team, which included designers Tony Southgate and Dave Wass, designed the Arrows FA1 and Riccardo Patrese was hired to drive it. The formation of Arrows was a major blow to Shadow but the team had the new DN9 which Southgate and Wass had designed before departing and with Clay Regazzoni and Hans Stuck recruited to drive. Stuck had lost his place at Brabham because Bernie Ecclestone had lured World Champion Niki Lauda from Ferrari to join John Watson. Sponsorship had been found from the Parmalat company and designer Gordon Murray was working on a radical new BT46 new car.

Ferrari produced the new 312T3 for Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve and took the decision to switch to Michelin tires, the French company having entered F1 in 1977 with Renault Sport. Ligier continued with one car for Jacques Laffite. McLaren dropped Jochen Mass and chose Patrick Tambay as his replacement, while the German moved to ATS which had bought the assets of the March F1 program and ran a new car called the HS1, designed by Robin Herd.

Having lost Peterson, Tyrrell (with Elf encouragement) hired a new young Frenchman called Didier Pironi. The team gave up the six-wheeler concept and appeared with a much more conventional 008. Wolf Racing retained Jody Scheckter and began the year with the old car while Ensign started the year with Danny Ongais and Lamberto Leoni as drivers. Hesketh struggled on but as Rupert Keegan had taken his British Air Ferries sponsorship to Surtees the team was in more difficulty. The year began with Hesketh running Divina Galica. Alongside Keegan at Surtees was Vittorio Brambilla. There were a variety of new teams in the course of the year, notably Merzario which produced the A1 chassis. Hector Rebaque concluded a deal to run a Lotus 78 while Williams Grand Prix Engineering hired Alan Jones and Patrick Head produced the FW06.

The field was completed by Brett Lunger in the BS Fabrications McLaren M23 and the new Theodore TR1, which had been designed for Teddy Yip by Ron Tauranac. It was driven in Argentina by Eddie Cheever, who had just turned 20.

Qualifying in Buenos Aires resulted in pole position for Mario Andretti (Lotus) with Reutemann second, Peterson third and Watson ahead of Lauda. James Hunt was sixth in his McLaren while Villeneuve continued to show extreme promise with seventh on the grid. The top 10 was completed by Laffite, Tambay and Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell). Rebaque, Cheever and Galica failed to qualify for the 24-car grid.

In the race Andretti took the lead at the start and led from flag to flag while Reutemann's hold on second place lasted only until the seventh lap when he was passed by Watson, who had worked his way up past Lauda and Peterson. Watson stayed second until three-quarter distance when he dropped back with overheating problems and retired. This left Lauda second with Depailler third, after an impressive early charge which took him past Hunt, Laffite, Peterson and Reutemann.

1979, The Ferrari 312T4, which Enzo Ferrari considered the ugliest car to leave his factory, is unveiled.

Non-Racing Related:

1936, Henry Ford established the Ford Foundation, a philanthropic organization. The foundation was set up partly to allow the Ford family to retain control of the Ford Motor Company after Henry Ford’s death, avoiding new inheritance laws. But its charitable works were very real.

At its height, the Ford Foundation had assets of $4 billion. The foundation works to promote population control and to prevent famine; to promote the arts and educational media; and to work for peace and the protection of the environment.

Originally posted by fines This wasn't a car of his own design, not even in the Brabham- or McLaren-sense, but merely re-badging. The McRae GM1 was originally the Leda LT27...

I think McRae deserves some design credit. Len Terry himself, in the book Racing Car Design and Development (by Terry and Alan Baker) states the following:

LT 26 and LT27 or McRae LEDA

On this project, to a greater extent than any since my early Lotus days, I was the interpreter rather than the creator. When Malaya Garage approached Graham McRae in September 1971 to see if he would drive for Leda he agreed to do so on the primary condition that the car was designed and built to his own requirements. Malaya agreed to this, so Graham came to Poole the following month and explained to me what he had in mind. He gave me a set of ideas which basically were very sound, some of them parallel to the way my own thoughts were running at the time. In other respects I saw things rather differently, but these were largely on matters of opinion rather than fact. Anyway, we agreed the overall specification and I started work. In fairness to myself I should make it clear that at no time did Graham put pencil to paper on the drawing board, the actual designing being entirely my own task, with his agreement wherever necessary.

Quinn Epperley, I have the date as 7 January 2001, not 11 January, and have as the source the Racing History forum in the USA, reported soon after the time of his death. I don't remember the details, it could have been one of those discovered some time after it actually happened and therefore open to error on the exact date.

Jim Gilmore, I have as 31 December 2000, with Motorsport.com as the source, again, as reported shortly after the event. I seem to remember he had gone out to buy some grog for the New Year celebrations, but that could be another one of those short circuits in the grey matter.

Pleased to see Graham McRae get his due credit for that Leda car. I seem to remember, also, that he modified it in some respects when he named it GM1. Perhaps someone can expand on this.

1955, Argentine GP in Buenos Aires. The second year of the new formula allowed most of the teams to continue to develop the machinery which had appeared the previous year: Lancia worked on the D50, Maserati on the 250F and Mercedes-Benz on the W196 while Ferrari developed both the Type 625 and the 553. The driver market saw Stirling Moss move from Maserati to be Juan-Manuel Fangio's team mate at Mercedes-Benz. At the same time Mike Hawthorn has left Ferrari to join the new Vanwall team, leaving Ferrari with Froilan Gonzalez, Giuseppe Farina and Maurice Trintigant, Maserati recruited Jean Behra to run with Harry Schell, Luigi Musso and Roberto Mieres while Lancia added Eugenio Castellotti to the roster, alongside Alberto Ascari and Gigi Villoresi.

The cars seemed closely matched and on the front row of the grid was one of each of the cars from the big four teams: Gonzalez just ahead of Ascari, Fangio and Behra.

Race day was extremely hot and Fangio delighted the locals by getting into the lead on the first lap with Ascari and a fast-starting Stirling Moss chasing him. Then came Gonzalez and Farina.

Fangio's lead did not last long. Ascari challenged him and got ahead only to lose the lead soon afterwards to a flying Gonzalez. The racing stayed close in the early laps but on lap 22 Ascari made a mistake and crashed. His Lancia team mate Villoresi was already out because of early mechanical trouble and had taken over Castellotti's car but before Ascari could claim the car, Villoresi crashed, ending the Lancia challenge.

Moss disappeared with a fuel feed problem and a few laps later Trintignant went out with an engine problem.

And then the heat began to tell on the drivers. Farina pitted because he was exhausted, his car being taken over by Ferrari's spare driver Umberto Maglioli. Then Gonzalez came into the pits and so a revived Farina was sent out in his place. Fangio had to stop for some water and this enabled Schell and Mieres to go ahead although an exhausted Schell was soon handing over to Behra. Mieres ran into technical trouble and that meant that Fangio was soon back in the lead.

He was caught in the closing laps by Gonzalez - who was back in his own car which had been driven in the interim by Farina and Trintignant - but he then had an accident and ruined his chances. He did manage to rejoin and handed the car back to Farina who brought the Ferrari home in second place.

Third place in this complicated race went to Farina's original car which had been driven by Maglioli and then handed on to Trintignant before being handed back to Maglioli.

1953, The Chevrolet Corvette was introduced at a show car at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The car became an American classic almost instantly. Its sporty fiberglass body didn’t look like anything else on the road, and although some car buffs criticized the sportscar for being underpowered, that didn’t stop Corvettes from speeding off the showroom floors.

1899, Camille Jenatzy captured the land speed record in an electric car of his own design: 41.425 miles per hour at Acheres Park, France. On the same day, however, previous record holder Gaston Chasseloup-Laubat raised the record again, posting a speed of 43.690 miles per hour in an electric Jeantaud automobile. The feud wasn’t over yet. Jenatzy took the record again ten days later, on January 27. Chasseloup-Laubat took it back on March 4, and Jenatzy reclaimed the record on April 29—the last time an electric car held the speed record. Until 1963, all other land speed records were set by steam or internal-combustion power. In 1963, Craig Breedlove took the land speed record in a jet powered car, and all record-holding cars since then have been propelled by jet or rocket engines.

1954, Argentine GP at Buenos Aires. The new Formula 1 regulations which came into force in 1954 meant that there was a change in the established order of the sport although many of the newcomers were not ready in time for the start of the season and so Ferrari and Maserati continued the battle they had had in 1953 with their old modified for the new rules. Ferrari started the year with the Type 625 while Maserati had reworked the A6SSG Formula 2 car to produce the Maserati 250F. Gordini used his old cars fitted with bigger engines.

All three companies sent their factory teams to Buenos Aires and with Alberto Ascari and Gigi Villoresi having left Ferrari to join the yet-to-appear Lancia team, Ferrari fielded Giuseppe Farina, Mike Hawthorn and Umberto Maglioli alongside new signings Froilan Gonzalez and Maurice Trintignant. Maserati retained Juan-Manuel Fangio, Onofre Marimon and youngster Luigi Musso.

Farina was fastest in practice with Gonzalez alongside and the front row was completed by Fangio and Hawthorn while on the second row Trintignant had Marimon and would have had Musso if the Italian had been able to start the event. Unfortunately he had suffered an engine failure and had no replacement unit.

Farina took the lead at the start with Fangio close behind him but it was Gonzalez who made the most impression in the early laps as he climbed through the order, passing Hawthorn and Fangio and taking the lead on lap 15. On lap 32, however, a storm broke and Gonzalez spun off in the rain. Farina stopped to get a visor for his helmet and Hawthorn spun and so Fangio was left in the lead. As the track dried he was caught and passed by Gonzalez and Farina but then the rain intensified and Fangio moved back into the lead. Hawthorn dropped out after receiving outside assistance after a second spin. On lap 61 Fangio stopped for some special hand-cut tires after which Ferrari team manager Nello Ugolini decided to protest that Maserati has used too many mechanics during the pit stop. The Ferrari team was confident that the protest would be upheld and so Farina and Gonzalez were signaled not to take risks. Fangio caught and passed them both to win. The protest was rejected by the race organizers and later by the FIA as well.

1965, Dan Gurney, driving a Ford, opened the 1965 Grand National season by winning his third consecutive Riverside 500.

Non-Racing Related:

1949 The first Volkswagen Beetle in the U.S. arrived from Germany. The little Volkswagen ("people’s car") was a sturdy vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche at the request of Adolf Hitler. The car was meant to be a durable workhorse car for the common German. After the defeat of the Nazi government in Germany, the VW Beetle remained a popular car, and its reputation for affordable reliability made it a profitable export.

1964 The first Porsche Carrera, a lasting favorite in the world of sports cars, was delivered to a Los Angeles customer.

1930, Australian Norman ‘Wizard’ Smith in his 20-litre Anzac averages 148.637mph over ten miles, a new world record for the distance, at Ninety Mile Beach in New Zealand. David McKinney, TDIAR

1954, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Juan Manuel Fangio survived a protest to win the Formula One Argentine Grand Prix in a Maserati 250F, the first championship GP for the new 2.5 liter formula. Defending World Champion Alberto Ascari was absent, having signed with Lancia, whose car was not ready. Fangio had signed with Mercedes, and they weren't close to debuting either, so he lined up the 250F for his home GP.

1950 World Champion Giuseppe Farina started from pole and jumped into the lead ahead of Fangio, Mike Hawthorn and Froilan Gonzalez. On lap 5, Gonzalez passed Hawthorn, passing Fangio 3 laps later for second. By lap 15, Gonzalez moved into the lead, and with Hawthorn having passed Fangio as well, Ferraris ran 1-2-3 and were in complete command.

But, on lap 32, heavy rain began falling suddenly and Gonzalez spun on the slick track, dropping to 4th before getting things sorted out. Farina pitted for a visor to move Hawthorn into the lead, though only for 2 laps before Fangio regained the front spot. Soon, Hawthorn spun as well, falling to 4th behind Farina and Gonzalez. In short order, the rain stopped and Gonzalez and Farina both caught and passed Fangio only to have a lengthier rain come down. Superior in the wet, Fangio re-passed both to regain the lead. Hawthorn spun again, this time being disqualified for receiving outside help.

With conditions worsening, Fangio pitted on lap 61 for some special "cut" rain tires. Ferrari team manager Nello Ugolini filed a protest that more than the allowed three mechanics had worked on the Maserati. Confident that his protest would be upheld, Ugolini signalled both Farina and Gonzalez to slow down. Fangio passed both with relative ease and went on to finish 1 minute, 19 seconds ahead of Farina. Despite Ugolini arguing with officials and taking his protest to the FIA, it was turned down. Gonzalez finished 3rd and Maurice Trintignant (Ferrari) 4th, both 1 lap down and Elie Bayol rounded out the point earners, two laps down in a Gordini. Jim Thurman, TDIAR

1959, Cooper-Climax drivers Bruce McLaren and Syd Jensen battle out the Hudson Trophy race at Levin, NZ, with the older man winning after his rival goes off with a sticking throttle. David McKinney TDIAR

1965, Riverside, California, USA...Dan Gurney took his 3rd straight 'Motor Trend 500' NASCAR Grand National win at Riverside International Raceway. Gurney drove the Wood Brothers Ford into the lead to stay with 55 laps left, coming home 27 seconds ahead of Junior Johnson's Ford. Marvin Panch finished one lap down in third, also in a Ford.

No factory Dodges or Plymouths were entered by Chrysler Corporation in protest of NASCAR's new rules for 1965 banning their hemi engine. With 16 laps to go, A.J. Foyt was attempting to overtake Johnson for second when his brakes failed at the end of the mile long backstraight. Rather than hit Johnson and the turn 9 wall, Foyt steered off an infield drop off, sending his Ford on a series of end over end flips.

Foyt suffered a broken back and fractured left heel in the crash. Ned Jarrett ran with the leaders until his Ford burst into flames during a pit stop on lap 94. The safety crew quickly extinguished the fire and no one was injured.

A crowd of 61,474 watched Gurney average 87.708 mph on the 2.62 mile road course. Racing on his international license, Gurney was ineligible for NASCAR points, making Johnson the points leader. Jim Thurman, TDIAR

1970, Wigram, New Zealand...Frank Matich drove a Chevrolet powered McLaren M10A to victory in the 'Lady Wigram Trophy' race, part of the annual Tasman Cup series. Matich's 2nd straight win came in the 3rd round of the 1970 series. Jim Thurman, TDIAR

1994, Andrew Craig was hired as President and CEO of CART.

January 18,

1919, Bentley Motors was established in London, England. A manufacturer of sports cars and luxury automobiles, Bentley was acquired by Rolls-Royce in November, 1931. They were again separated by outside aquisitions in 2000.

1950, F1 driver, Gilles Villeneuve was born in Quebec, Canada.

1953, The first FIA sanctioned Argentine Grand Prix was won by Alberto Ascari driving an F2 Ferrari.

The World Championship - still being run to Formula 2 regulations - started early in 1953 with the major teams gathering in Argentina in January. Maserati had shown signs at the end of 1952 that it was going to have a competitive package in 1953 and there were four of the A6GCM chassis for Juan-Manuel Fangio (back in action after being out for most of 1952), Froilan Gonzalez, Felice Bonetto and local hero Oscar Galvez.

Ferrari had Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina and Gigi Villoresi with a fourth car for its new signing Mike Hawthorn. Gordini had its usual trio of Jean Behra, Maurice Trintignant and Robert Manzon and a fourth car for Carlos Menditeguy while the Cooper Car Company made an official entry with cars for Alan Brown, John Barber and Adolfo Cruz.

Ascari, the reigning World Champion, was fastest in qualifying but Fangio was alongside him with the front row being completed by the Ferraris of Villoresi and Farina. Gonzalez, Hawthorn and Trintignant shared the second row with the third comprising of Manzon, Galvez, Menditeguy and Behra.

President Juan Peron turned up for the race and, having decreed that there would be free access to the circuit, discovered that there were far too many people to be controlled. They were lining the race track when the Grand Prix began. It was a recipe for disaster and as Ascari drove away to victory being chased by Fangio, third-placed Farina had to swerve to avoid a spectator who had wandered onto the circuit. He lost control and crashed into the crowd. At least one spectator (and probably more) were killed. Manzon was lucky not to hurt anyone else when his car lost a wheel at two-thirds distance. Hawthorn moved up to third but a counterattack by Gonzalez put him back up to third. Galvez was fifth and Behra sixth.

1914, Sports car and Grand Prix driver, Bob Gerard was born in Leicester.

1929, AAA driver, Red Amick was born in the USA.

1932, Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, the son of Enzo Ferrari, was born.

1963, CAMRA, the Canadian American Modified Racing Association, was formed in a meeting held in Spokane, Washington. The association's goal is to standardize modified rules among the racing clubs in the Pacific Northwest. Bill Crow was named CAMRA's first president.

1964, Joe Weatherly, champion AAA motorcycle and NASCAR stockcar racer, died in a crash during the NASCAR Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, California.

1967, Matra and Elf publicly announced their four year agreement to work together to win the Formula One World Championship.

1968, Ray Harroun, the winner of the first Indianapolis 500, died at age 89, in Anderson, Indiana.

1976, F1 driver, Tarso Marques was born.

1980, F1 driver, Jenson Button was born

1981, Nine time world champion Mike Hailwood died at the age of 42 in a silly automobile accident, robbing roadracing of one its greatest heroes. Killed with him was his pre-teen daughter Michele. They were on their way home from a resturant when a truck in front of them pulled a fast U-turn. Hailwood's only son David was five years old at the time and the only person in the car to survive the accident.

Hailwood's relatively early death and heady accomplishments in life made him an icon of racing, just as James Dean and Marilyn Monroe are icons of pop culture. He is revered in some circles and almost forgotten in others; much of what remains is lore and it is difficult to separate truth from fiction.

Just like there probably will never be another Kenny Roberts or Cal Rayborn II or anyone like them, nor will there be another Hailwood. Michael Stanley Bailey Hailwood was born to an affluent family in England in 1936. His father, Stan Hailwood, was an ex-racer and motorcycle dealer that made millions selling bikes in the Great Britain. He spent money freely and bought the best machinery he could find for his son once the racing bacteria infected Mike's system. Money has been proven beneficial in racing and it certainly opened doors for Hailwood early in his career, but there is one thing that no amount of capital can acquire: talent.

Hailwood, according to those that would know, was a natural, one of the most naturally talented riders of all time. If a list had to be made of the most naturally talented riders ever, it would probably read: Roberts, Read, Hailwood and probably Spencer, in no particular order. Go further than that and you'll have to qualify your picks.

Beyond raw talent, Hailwood had The Gift. He was gregarious and likable, so much so that he even managed to win over all those who'd had reservations about old man Hailwood's kid. Paradoxically, Hailwood showed at times a shyness and modesty that made fans admire him even more.

Non-Racing Related:

1954, General Motors announced a $1 billion plan to expand its automobile operation. GM, like other major auto makers, had deep pockets due to the postwar boom in car sales, though sales were slackening in 1953.

1957, Buenos Aires, Argentina. A Ferrari driven by Cesare Perdisa, Masten Gregory, Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso won the Argentine 1000 Kilometers World Sports Car Championship race on the Costanera circuit. The four drivers covered the 1000 km in 6 hours, 10 minutes. The talk of the race was the V8 Maserati and Stirling Moss built a huge lead in the car before handing over to Juan Fangio. The then four time World Champion proceeded to lap all but Castellotti, only to retire with clutch failure. (addition by Jim Thurman, TDIAR)

1963, Riverside, California, USA. Dan Gurney drove a Holman-Moody Ford to victory in the 'Motor Trend 500' NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. Gurney earned $14,400 for his first NASCAR GN win, leading 110 of the 185 laps in a race which took 6 hours to run. A.J. Foyt's Pontiac was 36 seconds behind. 3rd through 10th was a who's who: Troy Ruttman, Fireball Roberts, Bobby Johns, Ned Jarrett, rookie Billy Wade, Jim Pardue, West Coast champ Danny Letner and Joe Ruttman in his first start. Richard Petty tried an automatic transmission, but it broke on lap 27. Point leader Jim Paschal flipped a dozen times, was unhurt, but fell to 14th in points. Pardue took over the points lead ahead of Jarrett.(addition by Jim Thurman, TDIAR)

1967, Riverside, California, USA. 1965 USAC Rookie of the Year Billy Foster died in a crash while practicing for the 'Motor Trend 500' NASCAR GN race at Riverside International Raceway. Foster's Rudy Hoerr Dodge crashed hard into the turn 9 wall after the brakes failed at the end of the mile long backstraight. The 29 year old driver from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, finished 9th in Champ Car points in 1966 and impressed with a great drive in the season ending non-points race at Fuji, where he retired while leading late in the race after battling (and passing) Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart. (addition by Jim Thurman, TDIAR)

1968, Wigram, New Zealand...For the 3rd time in 4 years, Jim Clark drove to victory in the 'Lady Wigram Trophy' race, round 3 of the Tasman Cup series. The day started with an 11 lap preliminary race on the airfield circuit. Chris Amon led the first 3 laps in his Ferrari V6 Dino before Clark took over. At the finish, Clark's Lotus 49T-Ford crossed the line just one second ahead of Amon with Frank Gardner's Brabham-Alfa 14 seconds back in 3rd.

The first lap saw Clark leading Amon, Piers Courage and '67 World Champion Denis Hulme, who on return from his opening round crash at Pukekohe, had brought from England the works Brabham F2 he drove early in the '67 season. Lap 1 also saw a spectacular accident as Paul Bolton spun his Brabham-Climax and shot backwards through a hangar wall. By the end of lap 2, Hulme had gotten by Courage to take 3rd. Gardner faded quickly and retired on lap 7 with a blown head gasket. Gardner's team, run by 1960 Australian Gold Star champ Alec Mildren, had planned on changing the V8 Alfa-Romeo engine during the week, but were too busy rebuilding the car after Gardner's spin at Levin. Amon stayed close behind Clark and the duo had a half minute lead over the pack before the 44 lap race was 1/3 over. Pedro Rodriguez was running 4th when he made a brief pit stop with a broken throttle spring after 18 laps. Bruce McLaren took 4th on his BRM teammate's stop, but was troubled by locking rear brakes from the second or third lap. Amon ran right on Clark's heels until about midway. Amon said he lost about 2 seconds lapping a back marker and dropped back.

Clark went on to cross the line 7.7 seconds ahead of Amon. Hulme was 3rd in his 1.6 liter F2 Brabham, Courage 4th in his 1.6 liter F2 McLaren, McLaren 5th in his V12 BRM being run in preparation for the European season and Rodriguez 6th in a V8 BRM. It marked the first race on the year's series that all the international drivers had finished. Clark's first finish of the series gave him 9 points, but after 3 of the 8 rounds, the Tasman Cup points had Amon leading with 24 and Courage in second with 13. (addition by Jim Thurman, TDIAR)

1974, Wigram, New Zealand...John McCormack drove his Repco powered Elfin MR5 to victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix/Lady Wigram Trophy race Tasman series race. It was the first time the NZGP was held at the Wigram circuit, moved there in honor of Christchurch hosting the Commonwealth Games.

At the start, Peter Gethin moved his Team VDS Chevron into the lead ahead of Graham McRae's GM2 and the duo began to ease away from Gethin's teammate Teddy Pilette, who in turn was able to open a gap on a group led by McCormack. Only the intervals changed until Pilette began dropping back with a slowly deflating tire. Gethin held off repeated attacks by McRae until the 14th lap. Pilette pitted on lap 16. By then, only 10 of the 18 starters were still circulating, strung out all around the circuit. McRae was well ahead of McCormack when he retired on course on lap 30, broken valve springs the culprit. With "Cassius" out, McCormack had an insurmountable lead and cruised his 3 year old car home 41.4 seconds ahead of Pilette, with Gethin 3rd, the VDS teammates putting on a great charge to work their way back to those positions (Gethin's fastest lap was just 3/10 off McRae's pole lap). After 3 rounds of the '74 series, Gethin led with 16 points, 1 ahead of McCormack. (addition by Jim Thurman, TDIAR)1975, F1 driver, Norberto Fontana was born in Argentina.

Non-Racing Related:

1946, The first Kaiser-Frazer automobiles were introduced at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was formed after World War II by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer, president of the Graham-Paige Motor Company. They produced several successful cars, most notably the 1951 Kaiser two-door. In 1953, however, the company was renamed the Kaiser Motors Corporation, and soon abandoned the passenger car business in favor of manufacturing commercial and military vehicles.

1971, The Jaguar XJ13 prototype was displayed in Lindley, England, by British Leyland, the automotive conglomerate that included Jaguar at that time. The XJ13 was destined to become the next luxury Jaguar, but bad luck changed its destiny: the prototype car was wrecked on its first test run by test driver Norman Dewis, ending the XJ13 development program. The ruined car was kept and later restored by the company.

1968, Ray Harroun, the winner of the first Indianapolis 500, dies at age 89, in Anderson, Indiana, USA.

Recalling this post from a former contributor...

Originally posted in the Charmers threadIt was a blisteringly hot day in May, 1961. My brother and I were walking along the garage area fence with our autograph books at IMS. I was 13, my brother 10. I heard my name being called and I looked to our left and saw one of the fathers from our Quarter Midget club frantically waving to follow him. We ran after him and it was oppressively hot and we were sweating. and wondering why we were doing this. We ran about a block out into the parking area behind the Tower Terrace, and there in a little clearing among the parked cars was a 4 door sedan with all the doors open, and a small group of people standing around outside. The father who had led us there, still puffing said, "There is a driver in the back seat of that car I know you want to get in your autograph books."

We crossed the clearing and I noticed the people were all looking at us, and smiling. I had no idea what was going on. There in the back seat we found a tiny, shriveled up old man. He was as old as old could be, in my 13 year old eyes. But I knew who he was immediately. He signed our autograph books with a hand that was shaking so much, I felt bad for having troubled him. One of the people standing there said, "He is passing the torch", and everybody smiled. I didn't know what that meant. He spelled my name wrong, but I didn't care. I was thrilled to be in his presence and to have met him.

The little old man died a short time later. I think it was only a couple of months. But 40 years later I am still thrilled at having met him and I still have that autograph book. I don't look at it much. It makes me sad to see the names of all the drivers who died too soon, and so horribly. But wherever I look at (or think about) that one page with the shaky autograph obtained from that little old man, I smile. It was one of the highlights of my entire life, even now, 40 years later.

JANUARY 15, 1956 - La Jolla, California...Masten Gregory drove a Maserati to victory in a one hour Sports Car race on the Torrey Pines circuit. Gregory averaged 72.9 mph. The 2.7 mile Torrey Pines circuit used public roads in an undeveloped area North of San Diego. It became the site of a municipal golf course.

1966 - Levin, New Zealand...Richard Attwood drove his BRM P261 to victory in the Tasman Cup round on the Levin circuit. The race was round 2 of the 1966 series.

1972 - Levin, New Zealand...Graham McRae drove his McRae GM1 to victory in the Tasman Cup Formula 5000 series race on the 1.2 mile Levin circuit.

JANUARY 16, 1965 - Levin, New Zealand...Jim Clark drove his Lotus-Climax to victory in round 2 of the 1965 Tasman Cup series, held on the Levin circuit. The win was the first for Clark in Tasman Cup competition, but he would go on to be the career wins leader in the series with 14.

1971 - Wigram, New Zealand...Graham McRae drove his Chevrolet powered McLaren M10B to victory in the annual Lady Wigram Trophy race on the Wigram circuit. The race was the 3rd round of the 1971 Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000.

1977 - Riverside, California...Taking the lead when Cale Yarborough spun with 16 laps to go, David Pearson went on to win the season opening Western 500 NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. It was the 2nd straight win in the race for Pearson, who averaged 107 mph on the 2.62 mile road course in the Wood Brothers Mercury. Yarborough had taken the lead on the 2nd lap and was 5 seconds ahead of Pearson when he spun in turn 8 on the 103rd lap. Pearson went on to win by 9 seconds with Yarborough second in the Junior Johnson Chevy and Richard Petty third, one lap down in the Petty Dodge. Roger Penske's new driver, Dave Marcis was fourth in Penske's first race fielding a Chevy. GN West driver Sonny Easley finished 5th in a Ford and owner/driver Richard Childress finished sixth. In his first race since leaving the Penske team, owner/driver Bobby Allison's AMC Matador blew a motor in a ball of flame on lap 3 and GN West driver Jim Insolo turned in another great qualifying effort, starting 4th, but blew his engine on lap 4. 60,000 fans were on hand as the race was shortened to 500km/311.78 miles for the first time.

JANUARY 17, 1965 - Riverside, California...Dan Gurney took his 3rd straight Motor Trend 500 NASCAR Grand National win at Riverside International Raceway. Gurney drove the Wood Brothers Ford into the lead for good with 55 laps left, coming home 27 seconds ahead of Junior Johnson's Ford. Marvin Panch finished one lap down in third, also in a Ford. No factory Dodges or Plymouths were entered by Chrysler Corporation in protest of NASCAR's new rules for 1965 banning their hemi engine. With 16 laps to go, A.J. Foyt was attempting to overtake Johnson for second when his brakes failed at the end of the mile long backstraight. Rather than hit Johnson and the turn 9 wall, Foyt steered off an infield drop off, sending his Ford on a series of end over end flips. Foyt suffered a broken back and fractured left heel in the crash. Ned Jarrett ran with the leaders until his Ford burst into flames during a pit stop on lap 94. The safety crew quickly extinguished the fire and no one was injured. A crowd of 61,474 watched Gurney average 87.708 mph on the 2.62 mile road course. Racing on his international license, Gurney was ineligible for NASCAR points, making Johnson the points leader.

1970 - Wigram, New Zealand...Frank Matich drove a Chevrolet powered McLaren M10A to victory in the Lady Wigram Trophy race, part of the annual Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000 cars. Matich's 2nd straight win came in the 3rd round of the 1970 series.

JANUARY 18, 1964 - Wigram, New Zealand...Bruce McLaren drove his Cooper-Climax to victory in the Lady Wigram Trophy Tasman Cup race. The win was the 2nd straight in the Tasman series for McLaren.

1969 - Wigram, New Zealand...Jochen Rindt drove a Lotus 49B to the win in the Lady Wigram Trophy Tasman Cup 2.5 liter Formula One race. In winning, Rindt became the first driver from somewhere other than Great Britain, Australia or New Zealand to win a Tasman Cup round (it came in the 42nd race in series history).

1970 - Riverside, California...A.J. Foyt won the Motor Trend 500 NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway in a Ford. Foyt took the lead from Parnelli Jones with 25 laps to go and took the checkered 3.5 seconds ahead of a rapidly closing Roger McCluskey in a Plymouth Super Bird. Two drivers were badly injured in seperate crashes. Runner-up for 1969 Rookie of the Year, Buddy Young lost control on oil from a blown engine and flipped wildly end over end going into turn 1. The 27 year old driver, making his first start for the L.G. DeWitt team, suffered a concussion and internal injuries. 48 year old West Coast veteran Jim Cook was criticallyinjured when his Ford went head-on into the end of the concrete wall in turn 9, the impact so great that the car was nearly bent double. Jones qualified at a record 113.310 mph, but was forced to start at the rear following a ruling that his tires were illegal. Jones, a Firestone dealer, had qualified on tires which NASCAR officials ruled were not available in sufficient quantity to make them eligible for competition. A crowd of 43,200 was on hand.

1976 - Riverside, California...David Pearson drove the Wood Brothers Mercury to victory in the season opening NASCAR Grand National Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway. It was Pearson's first NASCAR win on the 2.62 mile Riverside road course, but he had previously won a Trans-Am race at the facility. Pearson led all but one of the final 79 laps, crossing the line 35.9 seconds ahead of 2nd place Cale Yarborough in the Junior Johnson Chevy. GN West driver Jim Insolo qualified surprisingly poor, but moved from 26th starting to finish 3rd. 6 time GN West champ Ray Elder was 4th in a Dodge. Bobby Allison won the pole and led early, but blew the motor in the Roger Penske AMC Matador. Allison returned to the race after the Penske crew changed engines in 63 minutes. Allison made a charge, but blew the second motor with 2 laps left, winding up 15th. Richard Petty returned from major stomach surgery, but blew the engine in his Dodge early in the race.

JANUARY 19, 1964 - Riverside, California...Dan Gurney drove a Wood Brothers Ford to his second straight win in the NASCAR Grand National Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway. Gurney took the lead for good on lap 54 of the 185 lap race and finished a lap ahead of Marvin Panch with "Fireball" Roberts was another lap back in 3rd, both also in Fords. The race was marred by an accident that took the life of popular Joe Weatherly, two time defending GN champion. Weatherly's Bud Moore Mercury, slid driver side first into the turn 6 boiler plate wall. Weatherly, who did not wear a shoulder harness, died when his head struck the wall. The incident led to development of the driver's side window nets.

1974 - Wigram, New Zealand...John McCormack drove a Holden/Repco powered Elfin MR5 to victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix/Lady Wigram Trophy race. The race was part of the Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000. The 23rd edition of the NZGP was held for the one and only time on the Wigram circuit, the first time since 1962 the race wasn't held on the Pukekohe circuit. The traditional Lady Wigram Trophy was combined into the NZGP for this one time only. It was McCormack's 3rd and last career series victory.

1975 - Wigram, New Zealand...Graham McRae drove his Chevrolet powered McRae GM2 to victory in the 26th Lady Wigram Trophy race, the 3rd round of the 1975 Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000. McRae's 3rd Lady Wigram Trophy win in 4 years gave him 13 career Tasman Cup race wins, one short of Jim Clark's leading total of 14.

1975 - Riverside, California...Bobby Allison dominated the Western 500 NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. Allison led all but 18 of the 191 laps in Roger Penske's AMC Matador to take the win 22.6 seconds ahead of David Pearson in the Wood Brothers Mercury. Cecil Gordon was third, seven laps down. Time of the race on the 2.62 mile road course was 5 hours, 4 minutes, 25 seconds. Richard Petty challenged Allison until sliding up into the turn 9 wall on the 33rd lap. After repairs, Petty returned and finished 7th. The current Winston Cup point system was first used in this race. Only 12 GN regulars showed up for the race, with the Junior Johnson team with driver Cale Yarborough the most notable of those missing.

1980 - Riverside, California...Darrell Waltrip made up a lap lost due to a blown tire, then held off Dale Earnhardt to win the season opening NASCAR Grand National Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway. The 311.78 mile/500km race had begun in rains on January 13th, with 26 laps run under caution before the race was stopped. Waltrip drove the DiGard Racing Chevy to the line 2.9 seconds ahead of Dale Earnhardt's Rod Osterlund Chevy. Richard Petty, Joe Millikan and 1977 & '79 GN West champ Bill Schmitt rounded out the top five. Dan Gurney came out of a 10 year retirement to drive a Rod Osterlund Chevy in the event. Gurney, a five time NASCAR GN winner at Riverside, had moved to 2nd when the transmission failed on lap 79.

1937, Former RAC/FIA International licensed driver David Samter, one of only three "Yanks" racing in England in the early '60s, born in Milwaukee, WI, USA.

1962, General Motors' Chairman, Frederic Donner issues a policy memo, re-iterating the company's compliance with 1957 AMA company-sponsored racing ban. This officially cancels production plans for the Corvette Grand Sport, with only 5 of the intended 125 cars built.

1967, The Lady Wigram Trophy race was won by Jim Clark in a Lotus 33, Atwood and Hulme take the 2nd and 3rd spots.

1968, Dan Gurney, driving a Ford, again wins the Riverside 500 after a one-year break. It was Gurney's fifth career Grand National victory – all at the 2.62-mile California road course. He also earned victories there in 1963, '64, '65 and '66.

2001, Irish rally legend Bertie Fisher and his children, Mark and Emma, died in the crash of a helicopter he was piloting.

Non-Racing Related:

1898, The five Opel brothers began converting the sewing-machine and appliance factory of Adam Opel into an automobile works in Russelheim, Germany. On that day in 1899, they acquired the rights to the Lutzmann automobile, and began production. The Opel-Lutzmann was soon abandoned, and in 1902 Opel introduced its first original car, a 2-cylinder runabout.

1952 - West Palm Beach, Florida...After starting from the pole, Tim Flock drove the Ted Chester owned Hudson Hornet to victory in the 100 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the 1/2 mile dirt oval at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Flock was followed by Lee Petty's Plymouth and the Olds 88 of brother Fonty Flock.

1957 - Buenos Aires, Argentina...A Ferrari driven by Cesare Perdisa, Masten Gregory, Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso won the Argentine 1000 Kilometers World Sports Car Championship race on the Costanera circuit. The four drivers covered the 1000 km in 6 hours, 10 minutes. The talk of the race was the V8 Maserati and Stirling Moss built a huge lead in the car before handing over to Juan Fangio. The then four time World Champion proceeded to lap all but Castellotti, only to retire with clutch failure.

1963 - Riverside, California...Dan Gurney drove a Holman-Moody Ford to victory in the Motor Trend 500 NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. Gurney earned $14,400 for his first NASCAR GN win, leading 110 of the 185 laps in a race which took 6 hours to run. A.J. Foyt's Ray Nichels Pontiac was 36 seconds behind with Troy Ruttman 3rd in a Bill Stroppe Mercury while Troy's younger brother, Joe, finished 10th in his racing debut. Richard Petty tried an automatic transmission, but it broke on lap 27. Point leader Jim Paschal flipped a dozen times, was unhurt, but fell to 14th in points. Jim Pardue took over the points lead ahead of Ned Jarrett.

1967 - Riverside, California...1965 USAC Rookie of the Year Billy Foster died in a crash while practicing for the Motor Trend 500 NASCAR GN race at Riverside International Raceway. Foster's Rudy Hoerr Dodge crashed hard into the turn 9 wall after the brakes failed at the end of the mile long backstraight. Foster, from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, was considered a rising star after finishing 9th in Indy Car points in 1966 and impressed with his great runs at Atlanta and Fuji, where he passed and was leading Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart until mechanic failure forced him out.

1968 - Wigram, New Zealand...For the 3rd time in 4 years, Jim Clark drove to victory in the "Lady Wigram Trophy" race, round 3 of the Tasman Cup series. The first lap saw Clark leading Chris Amon, Piers Courage and '67 World Champion Denis Hulme, who on return from his opening round crash at Pukekohe, had brought from England the works Brabham F2 he drove early in the '67 season. By the end of lap 2, Hulme had gotten by Courage to take 3rd. Amon stayed close behind Clark and the duo built a half minute lead over the pack before the 44 lap race was 1/3 over. Amon ran right on Clark's heels until about midway, when he lost time lapping a back marker and dropped back. Clark went on to cross the line 7.7 seconds ahead of Amon. Hulme was 3rd in his 1.6 liter F2 Brabham, Courage 4th in his 1.6 liter F2 McLaren, Bruce McLaren 5th in his V12 BRM being run in preparation for the European season and Pedro Rodriguez 6th in a V8 BRM. It marked the first series race that all the international drivers had finished. Clark's first finish of the series gave him 9 points, but after 3 of the 8 rounds, the Tasman Cup points had Amon leading with 24 and Courage in second with 13.

Well, as January advances, it won't be long till we're back at Teretonga... this one I did write

From the infamous Amon thread (post No 683)Poor timing, Keir, the candles were blown out in NZ a couple of hours ago...

The wind still laps at the grass at Teretonga, though, whispering through the bushes as it skirls about the droplets of rain that lie in residue ... another day has gone by in the life of the world's southernmost circuit... where never again will World Champions drive, nor will the thrills of the Tasman Cup bring the jacketed enthusiasts out for a late-January afternoon...

Those were times we all long to recall, when the weather was fine, the girls young, the cars rare and blindingly fast as their masters mustered most of their mysticism, keen to get a break in the points before sailing to Australia and circuits that will be hotter and harder to win on.

Yes, the Tasman was usually won in New Zealand. Australian rounds rarely turned out a reversal in the points.

Donn Anderson is no longer the guru bringing the news of the latest race to the readers of the Kiwi motor racing magazine (what was its name?), and brother Rodger no longer races a Mini, nor accompanies him in his tour of the Australian rounds.

No more are the multitudes of Hillmans and Minis and Zephyrs pressed into service to take the serious enthusiasts from race to race, a fabulous serving of skills and machinery that it's almost worth waiting a year to see...

Strangely, one of the first of the visitors to give up the annual trek was Bruce McLaren, too tied up with F1 and Can-Am development. Denny Hulme came no more, either, but there came the days when Amon was able to convince Ferrari to send cars to his homeland.

Made Jim Clark's life hell for a few weeks...

Cruelled it for Rindt the following year...

And when it was done, the winds whispered among the grasses at Teretonga... across the runways at Wigram.... through the horse-rails at Pukekohe and round the old grandstand at Levin.Darkness brought peace and the time to think of those races now gone, the heroes victorious or vanquished. The dreams shattered, the odd emergence of someone new and exciting... like Piers Courage and his McLaren FVA in 1968.

The names those winds now hide, drivers now gone... McLaren, Mayer, Rodriguez, Clark, Hulme, Hill, Rindt, Courage, Scott... others that simply faded away... Attwood, Irwin, Maggs, Palmer, Matich, Bartlett, Geoghegan, Cusack, Allen, Levis... not many still going... Brabham, Gardner... those who never made the grade... Dawson, Gibson and the unlucky Bolton, who got sick taking deep breaths of exhaust on the starting grid at the first round...

The winds of Teretonga trouble them not, only skirl about the raindrops that have fallen today, chilling them a little as the Southern Ocean refuses to warm early this year.

Just two stars of this racing now live... Amon and Brabham, but perhaps you could say Matich starred, too, for he did lead a couple of races. Not many is it? Not much resistance for the winds of time.

Reliving those Tasman Cup times, I'm sure, brings new life to those of us in these southern lands... especially if we didn't get to go to Europe and see some of the racing there.

Thanks Richard, I'll try to do better. Hope no one else minds the catch-up...

JANUARY 21, 1968 - Riverside, California...Overcoming a blown tire and a resultant long pit stop, Dan Gurney won the NASCAR Grand National Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway for the fifth time. Gurney took the lead for good on the 160th lap, going on to take the Wood Brothers Ford under the checkered flag 36 seconds ahead of David Pearson. Parnelli Jones, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough rounded out a Ford top five sweep. Gurney led Jones by 52 seconds when a rear tire blew on lap 145. The pit stop took 1 minute, 25 seconds when chunks of rubber had to be removed from around the rear axle. Gurney re-entered the race in third, but it only took him 15 laps to regain the lead. A new safety device made it's first appearance as a number of cars carried a screen over the driver's side window. Gurney drove #121, marking the last time that a car with a three digit number won a NASCAR GN race.

1973 - Riverside, California...Mark Donohue drove Roger Penske's AMC Matador to victory in the NASCAR Grand National Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway. The Matador was equipped with disc brakes on all four wheels. Donohue, who led 138 of the 191 total laps, took the lead to stay on lap 117 and won by more than a lap. Bobby Allison's Chevy was 2nd with GN West champ Ray Elder, Bobby Unser and GN West driver Jim Insolo rounding out the top five. The win was the first and only NASCAR GN win for Donohue, and came in only his fifth NASCAR start.

2000, Williams-BMW and Alex Zanardi announce that Alex is leaving the team after only one year.

January 22,

1936, Triumph cars and motorcycles become seperate entities as the motorcycle company is sold to J.Y. "Jack" Sangster for 5000 pounds.

1950, Throughout the twentieth century, independent automobile manufacturers have fallen again and again before the industrial power of the "Big Three"—Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. Most often, these independent firms are swallowed, bought up, like Nash, Austin, Studebaker, Hudson, Packard, and many others. The story of Preston Tucker is a little darker. Tucker was a Chicago businessman who built fifty extraordinary automobiles in 1947 and 1948. His cars had many modern amenities and remarkable horsepower. But he was indicted on thirty-one counts of fraud, and as he fought for his freedom in court, his company failed. On this day in 1950, Preston Tucker was cleared of all fraud charges against him. But it was too little, too late. The Tucker automobile was history. Many believe that the legal actions against Tucker were sponsored by the Big Three auto makers, who feared his competition.

1959, gentleman racer, Mike Hawthorn suffers fatal injuries in a car crash near Guliford. This is your world champion, right Doug?

Hawthorn rode to international fame on the same tidal wave of British interest in motor racing which helped propel Stirling Moss and the late Peter Collins to the forefront of public acclaim in the 1950s. On his day, Mike was a formidable competitor, but he was also inconsistent and there were days when he seemed to suffer from a lack of interest. But when things went well, he was difficult to beat as Juan-Manuel Fangio found out in the 1953 French Grand Prix at Reims where he had to take second place to the young Englishman who had been hired by Ferrari at the start of the year. Hawthorn later hit the headlines for allegedly dodging his national service obligations, a story which gave rise to many emotive headlines in the British tabloids. In fact the combination of a kidney condition and the after-effects of burns sustained in the 1954 Syracuse GP would have almost certainly rendered him ineligible.

In 1957 and 58 he particularly enjoyed his racing paired in the Ferrari team with his close friend Peter Collins, but all that came to an end with Collins' death in the '58 German Grand Prix. Mike went on to win the title, but immediately announced his retirement from racing. A promising business career beckoned, but he died when he crashed his Jaguar saloon on the Guildford bypass early in 1959.

1966, Jackie Stewart won the Wigram Trophy in a 2-litre BRM P261.

1978, David Pearson, in a Mercury, earns the 100th pole of his career, clocked at 113.204 miles per hour on the 2.62-mile road course at Riverside, CA. Pearson, who would become the second driver in history to reach 100 career wins two months later, retired with 113 poles, 13 behind all-time leader Richard Petty.

1986, Porsche 959s finish first (Metge/Lemoyne), second (Ickx/Brasseur), and sixth (Kussmaul/Unger) in the Paris-Dakar Rally.

Without going back to the previous page to double-check, I think it was 13 January 2003 listed as the release date for the 2003 Jaguar F1 car. The car actually was released 21 January 2003.

Lady Wigram Trophy Race 1974 was 20 January,Does anyone (David McKinney perhaps?) know when/why some of these New Zealand races were held on Saturdays, later switched to Sundays. Was this a religious thing?

Originally posted by Barry Lake Regarding 21 January 2001, I have on record that Bertie Fisher was seriously injured in the helicopter crash. Did he subsequently die? The reports at the time said his son Mark Fisher was killed.

Yes, he died two days later. BTW Fisher's name was mentioned in this thread.

Without going back to the previous page to double-check, I think it was 13 January 2003 listed as the release date for the 2003 Jaguar F1 car. The car actually was released 21 January 2003.

Lady Wigram Trophy Race 1974 was 20 January,Does anyone (David McKinney perhaps?) know when/why some of these New Zealand races were held on Saturdays, later switched to Sundays. Was this a religious thing?

Thanks for these... FYI, I've contacted the source regarding these 'corrections' and they still haven't replied. Either they don't care or don't believe me... Though I've invited them to participate here to either refute or acknowledge the corrections.

Regarding the R4, I found several reports regarding the announcement of the 'unveiling' of the car on that date, but it appears that the 1st demonstration was on the 21st as you say.

Even though background and breeding don't necessarily dictate the outcome of an individual's persona, as the son of Stan Hailwood, who as you know was an ex-racer and motorcycle dealer, that made millions selling bikes in Britain. His dad bought him the best machinery that money could buy. However, Mike quickly cast aside the 'rich man's kid' image which had been thrust upon him to earn the respect and admiration of his peers through the enormity of his talent and the strength of his personality.

Although not many know it, he paid him back for every bike his old man gave him. "Mike paid back every penny," said his friend and former mechanic, Nobby Clark. Sound values if I may say so...

He was revered for his outstanding talent and versatility, he was a true sportsman, charismatic yet unassuming, he loved music, Jazz especially and had a huge sense of fun. In 1968 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to the sport.

In addition, there was the heroic rescue of Clay Regazzoni who was trapped and unconscious in his burning car after crashing in the 1973 South African F1 Grand Prix. For his action, he was awarded The George Medal, Britain's highest award for civilian bravery.

All in all, I'd say that would qualify him as being a gentleman of motorsports. Unless you have details to the contrary of course..

"... 58 Cutting a dash in his red Ferrari, MIKE HAWTHORN was the archetypal gentleman racer with an unquenchable need for speed that brought glory and an untimely death. He won his first grand prix in 1953, Le Mans in 1955 and the World championship in 1958 but within months he was killed in a road crash near his home..."

JANUARY 22, 1956 - Phoenix, Arizona...Buck Baker made his first start for the powerhouse Kiekhaefer Chrysler team a winning one by taking the 150 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the one mile dirt oval at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. Frank Mundy, also new to the Kiekhaefersquad, finished a half lap behind in second. Tim Flock was third, giving the Kiekhaefer Chryslers a 1-2-3 sweep. The returning Mundy had to post a $1000 bond to be re-instated in NASCAR after leaving in 1952 to race on the AAA circuit. Baker had been the main competition for the mighty Chryslers in 1955, so team owner Carl Kiekhaefer hired him.

1972 - Wigram, New Zealand...Graham McRae drove his Leda GM1-Chevrolet to victory in the Lady Wigram Trophy race, round 3 of the Tasman Cup Formula 5000 series. The Leda was later renamed the McRae. It was the 2nd straight '72 series win for McRae.

1978 - Riverside, California...Taking the lead with 25 laps to go, Cale Yarborough drove the new Junior Johnson Oldsmobile to victory in the NASCAR Grand National Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway. Yarborough finished one second ahead of Benny Parsons with David Pearson less than a car length behind Parsons in third. Parsons and Pearson swapped the runner-up spot three times on the last lap. Neil Bonnett finished 4th in his first road course start. It was the first NASCAR GN win for Olds since 1959. Johnson's team had a new crew chief, 22 year old Tim Brewer. Yarborough's 50th career win seen by a crowd of 70,000. The start was delayed to letthe large crowd in through the muddy conditions.

1948, The first annual Automotive Equipment Display and Hot Rod Exhibition, presented by the Southern California Timing Association, opens at the National Guard Armory in Exposition Park, in Los Angeles, California.

1966, Dan Gurney wins his fourth consecutive Riverside 500 to set a Grand National record. Gurney's streak would be broken the next year, but he would win again at Riverside in 1968. All five of Gurney's career Grand National victories occurred at Riverside.

1972, Jackie Stewart won the Brazilian GP and set the fastest lap in Buenos Aries in his Tyrrell, Denny Hulme in a McLaren was 2nd and Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari finished 3rd.

1977, The winner of the Brazilian GP at Interlagos was Carlos Reutemann in his Ferrari, James Hunt in his McLaren finished 2nd with Niki Lauda in a Ferrari taking the 3rd spot. Hunt set the fastest lap of the race.

1982, Alain Prost in his Renault won the South African GP at Kyalami, he also set the fastest lap. 2nd was Carlos Reutemann in a Williams with Rene Arnoux in the other Renault finished 3rd.

JANUARY 23, 1955 - Buenos Aires, Argentina...With only two Ferraris and two Gordinis entered, the local Valiente/Ibanez Ferrari won the Argentine 1000 Kilometers World Sports Car Championship race, taking the lead with 18 laps left when the Najurieta/Rivero team hit a dog. Froilan Gonzales/Maurice Trintignant factory Ferrari was disqualified when Gonzales had fuel pump problems and took a short-cut to the pits. Later, the other factory Ferrari of Maglioli/Bucci was disqualified after being pushed by spectators.

1965 - Wigram, New Zealand...Jim Clark drove his Lotus-Climax to victory in the Lady Wigram Trophy race on the 2.13 mile Wigram circuit. The race was round 3 of the 1965 Tasman Cup series.

1966 - Riverside, California...Dan Gurney continued his mastery of Riverside International Raceway, driving a Wood Brothers Ford to his 4th straight win in the NASCAR Grand National "Motor Trend 500". David Pearson finished 2nd in the Cotton Owens Dodge, over a minute behind. Total pit time for the Wood Brothers crew was 1 minute, 51 seconds better than the Owens crew. Paul Goldsmith finished 3rd. Curtis Turner thrilled the 73,331 spectators, leading on three occasions and taking off-course excursions over the rough terrain. Contact while battling Pearson for 2nd sent Turner sailing into a fence, but after pitting to pry a fender from a tire, he was back. Later, Turner backed into a concrete wall. Black flagged twice for leaking fuel, Turner returned after pitwork to finish 4th, only two laps down. Gurney averaged a record 97.95 mph in a race that took 5 hours and 5 minutes (and just who was that kid sitting on a hillside? ).

1972 - Buenos Aires, Argentina...Jackie Stewart won the first Argentine GP since 1960. Argentina's Carlos Reutemann made his GP debut in spectacular fashion, winning the pole in his Brabham BT34. Brabham also had a new manager, Bernie Ecclestone. Lotus appeared for the first time in gold and black John Player colors, American Peter Revson returned full time to F1 and BRM (with new Marlboro backing) had 5 cars, but elected to not enter Beltoise in Argentina after the tragedy of 1971. Chris Amon's gearbox seized on the warm-up lap. Sand & gravel strewn on the track in an early incident caused several problems. New Lotus driver Dave Walker stalled, ran back to the pits for a hammer and re-started, but was disqualified for using tools not carried in the car. Meanwhile, Reine Wisell, replaced at Lotus by Walker, continued after getting out of his BRM and manually unsticking the throttle. Reutemann gambled on softer tires and quickly faded, but after pitting late for new tires, charged from 14th back to 7th. Stewart's Tyrell won by 25.9 seconds over Denis Hulme in a McLaren.

1972 - Riverside, California...Richard Petty won a fog shortened NASCAR GN "Western 500" at Riverside International Raceway. The race began in foggy conditions which worsened, forcing the race to be flagged after 149 of a scheduled 191 laps. Just days earlier, STP had signed a multi-year sponsorship of Petty. The trio of A.J. Foyt, Bobby Allison and Petty dominated the race. Foyt was in 2nd when his transmission broke on lap 107 and Allison was slowed late by a faulty valve spring. Allison's Chevy was over a minute behind Petty's Dodge when the red and checkered flags fell. Bobby Isaac, Ray Elder and Hershel McGriff rounded out the top five. Mark Donohue debuted Roger Penske's AMC Matador. The Bown family had a promising day go sour. GNW star Dick qualified 5th only to have the hood fly up on the pace lap!. He returned to finish 13th while young son Chuck, making his GN debut, crashed.

1860, French inventor Etienne Lenoir was issued a patent for the first successful internal-combustion engine. Lenoir’s engine was a converted steam engine that burned a mixture of coal gas and air. Its two-stroke action was simple but reliable--many of Lenoir’s engine were still working after 20 years of use. His first engines powered simple machines like pumps and bellows. However, in 1862, Lenoir built his first automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine--a vehicle capable of making a six-mile trip in two to three hours. It wasn’t a practical vehicle, but it was the beginning of the automobile industry.

1954, Dale Duncan puts out a fire in his Allard's engine compartment during the 1000 kilometer endurance race in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by urinating on it. His co-driver, Carroll Shelby,had thrown the fire extinguisher out of the car to save weight. They would finish tenth. Shelby's driving skills were noticed by John Wyer, who would later hire him to drive for Aston Martin. (Typical Carroll...) Am I correct in finding that Maston Gregory shared the win in that Argentine 1000km event with Eugenio Castelloti and Luigi Musso?

1963, The Pontiac GTO gets a chance for life. Perhaps the most interesting part of the GTO story is that it was never supposed to exist. A mandate came down from the highest levels of General Motors: No high performance cars. Nothing that implies racing or going fast was to be in the GM lineup. In the '50s Pontiac had a old fashioned image as a manufacturer of conservative basic transportation and sales were suffering because of it. There were even plans to kill the division off entirely.

Pontiac's salvation was clear: build a performance image. They proceeded to do so, and by 1962, the desired results - increased sales - were a reality. For example, Hurst shifters were found on Pontiacs with floor mounted manual transmissions. The relationship was apparently successful, as every manual transmission GTO was controlled by the Hurst product.

But the continuation of the success seemed doomed with the infamous January 24, 1963 memo from the top which banned all racing activities. Even as the memo was being written, work was underway to put a 389 cubic inch motor in the Pontiac Tempest. Leading the effort was Pontiac chief engineer John Z. DeLorean The January 24 memo contained a loophole however. Although new models required corporate approval, decisions regarding options only needed a nod at the division level. The Pontiac GTO, as introduced in the 1964 model year, was actually an option (number 382, costing $295.90) on the Tempest LeMans. Credit for convincing GMs top brass to let the GTO exist, which may have met the letter of the law but not the spirit, goes to Pontiac General Manager Elliot "Pete" Estes.

1905, Arthur MacDonald of Great Britain set a new land speed record of 149.875 miles per hour at Daytona Beach. Florida.

1906, Grand Prix driver, Toni Ulmen was born. The german driver competed in the 1952 Swiss and German Grands Prix. I've seen his birth date as January 12th as well. Is there a difinative word on this?

1910, Grand Prix driver, Heni Louveau was born.

1930, Grand Prix driver, Heinz Schiller was born.

1956, 1 driver, Johnny Cecotto was born.

1971, F1 driver, Luca Badoer was born

1971, IRL driver, Jaques Lazier was born.

1974, The Ford Motor Company of Australia withdraws from motor racing.

1976, Brazil, The 1975-76 off-season produced a series of shocks for the Formula 1 community. In mid November Lord Hesketh announced that he was closing down his team as money could not be found to run it. James Hunt was out of work. A few days later Emerson Fittipaldi informed McLaren that he had decided to race for his brother's Fittipaldi team and that he was not going to sign a new three-year contract. McLaren boss Teddy Mayer signed Hunt.

Within a week there was disastrous news. Graham Hill was flying his team back from a test when the small plane crashed on approach to Elstree aerodrome to the north of London. Hill, his driver Tony Brise, his designer Andy Smallman, his team manager Ray Brimble and two mechanics were all killed. The Embassy Hill had ceased to exist.

Shadow was also struggling because Universal Oil Products had decided not to renew its sponsorship deal while Frank Williams had gone into partnership with Canadian oilman Walter Wolf, who had bought the assets of Hesketh. Williams hired Jacky Ickx and Renzo Zorzi to be its drivers, as Jacques Laffite had departed to join a new team which had been established by former F1 racer Guy Ligier. He had taken over most of the staff and the engines of the old Matra team and had landed backing from the Gitanes cigarette brand.

Team Lotus was undergoing change with the arrival of the new Lotus 77. The team started the year in Brazil with Ronnie Peterson and Mario Andretti driving. Brabham. The Ferrari driver lineup was unchanged with Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni, while Tyrrell retained Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler. The year began with the old 007 chassis but there was a secret P34 six-wheeler program going on which would catch the F1 community by surprise when the car first appeared at the Spanish GP in May. Brabham had decided to use Alfa Romeo's flat-12 engine and a completely new car (the BT45) appeared. With Ferrari having dominated the previous season, Brabham designer Gordon Murray felt that the team had to have a flat-12 engine to get the best possible aerodynamics. Brabham sold its old Cosworth-engined cars to John Macdonald's RAM Racing.

March continued to run three cars for Vittorio Brambilla, Hans Stuck and Lella Lombardi, while Shadow retained Jean-Pierre Jarier and Tom Pryce. Penske Racing fielded John Watson, Ian Ashley raced the Stanley BRM. The field was completed by Fittipaldi which ran Emerson Fittipaldi and new boy Ingo Hoffmann.

The field in Brazil was only 22 cars but the quality was high and the battle for pole position at Interlagos was intense. In the end the position fell to Hunt, who lapped two-hunredths faster than Lauda. Jarier was tenth behind them and then came Regazzoni, Fittipaldi (an impressive effort) and Jochen Mass (McLaren). The top was completed Brambilla, Watson, Depailler and Carlos Pace (Brabham-Alfa Romeo). The new Ligier looked promising in 11th while Lotus was struggling with Andretti 16th and Peterson 18th.

There was a new system of starting lights to replace the old haphazard flag-dropping and Regazzoni was the least surprised by this and took the lead with Lauda, Hunt, Brambilla, Jarier and Mass behind him. They were followed by Watson and the slow-starting Fittipaldi.

In the early laps Mass, Watson and Fittipaldi all dropped away and Pryce emerged in sixth. Jarier showed that the Shadow was still a competitive car by overtaking Brambilla for fourth and a few laps later Pryce followed him through. On the ninth lap the order at the front changed when Lauda forced his way ahead of Regazzoni. He was followed through by Hunt and Jarier, the latter banging wheels with Regazzoni, leaving the Swiss to pit for repairs. The top six remained unchanged for a few laps before Brambilla (who was sixth) disappeared with an oil pressure problem leaving the place for Stuck. For 12 laps the order stayed the same as Jarier tried to pass Hunt. The matter was solved when Hunt's car lost a cylinder and the Shadow went ahead and began to close on the leader. Hunt soon dropped behind Pryce as well and retired on lap 33 when he was caught out by a sticking throttle and spun out. He rejoined, spilling oil on the track. Next time around Jarier hit it and spun off. Pryce nearly did the same but managed to stay on the track, losing second place to Depailler as he did so. Stuck claimed fourth, Scheckter fifth and Mass sixth

JANUARY 24, 1936 - Los Angeles, California...1933 AAA Pacific Coast champion and Indy 500 veteran Al Gordon died in a crash in what would prove to be the last race held at Legion Ascot Speedway, as the grandstands at the track burned down shortly after the race.

1954 - Buenos Aires, Argentina...Giuseppe Farina and Umberto Maglioli drove their Ferrari to victory in the opening round of the 1954 World Sports Car Championship, the Argentine 1000 Kilometers. The duo completed the 1000 km in 6 hours, 41 minutes, averaging 93.4 mph on the Buenos Aires Autodrome circuit in winning by three laps over the Ferrari team of American Harry Schell andAlfonso dePortago of Spain.

1971 - Invercargill, New Zealand...Niel Allen drove a Chevrolet powered McLaren M10B to victory in the Tasman Cup series Formula 5000 race on the Teretonga Park circuit. The race was round 4 of the 1971 series and it was Allen's 2nd win of the series.

JANUARY 25, 1964 - Invercargill, New Zealand...Bruce McLaren drove his Cooper-Climax to his 3rd straight Tasman Cup Formula One series victory, winning on the 1.6 mile Teretonga Park circuit. The race was round 4 of the inaugural Tasman Cup championship.

1965 - Tifton, Georgia...Promising NASCAR Grand National driver Larry Thomas died in a highway accident on Interstate 75. Thomas' Plymouth struck another vehicle from behind, hurtled through a guard rail and down a steep embankment, after he had apparently fallen asleep at the wheel. Thomas, of Trinity, North Carolina, was a 3 year veteran of the GN circuit. Primarily driving for independent owners Wade Younts and Herman Beam, Thomas came into his own in the 1964 season. After scoring 4 consecutive top 5 finishes during a September short track swing, including a 2nd from 27th (last) starting at Hickory, Thomas was named driver for the Burton-Robinson Plymouth team. He replaced the late Jimmy Pardue, who died in a tire test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on September 22nd. Ironically, Thomas made his debut with the team at Charlotte, qualifying 7th and finishing 20th after overheating. He only made 3 starts with the team after receiving his big break, with the other two both top 5 finishes. Thomas finished the season 8th in points. Faced with the loss of two drivers in slightly over 4 months time, the Burton-Robinson team closed it's shop and quit racing.

1969 - Invercargill, New Zealand...Piers Courage drove a Brabham BT24 to victory in the Tasman Cup series race on the 1.6 Teretonga Park circuit.

1976 - Sao Paulo, Brazil...Niki Lauda won the Brazilian Grand Prix. Lauda's Ferrari took the checkered flag 21 seconds ahead of Patrick Depailler's Tyrell, 21 seconds with Tom Pryce finishing 3rd in a Shadow. James Hunt won the pole with a 2 minute, 32 second lap on the twisting, 4.9 mile Interlagos circuit. Jean-Pierre Jarier turned the fastest race lap, but later crashed his Shadow.

Originally posted by rdrcr January 25, 1976, Niki Lauda finished 1st in the Argentina GP held at Interlagos, 21 seconds over Patrick Depailler who finished second in a Tyrrell with Tom Pryce taking the third spot in a Shadow. Jean-Pierre Jarier set the fastest lap of the race in a Shadow, but was out on lap 33 due to an accident.

Originally posted by Jim Thurman JANUARY 25 1976 - Sao Paulo, Brazil...Niki Lauda won the Brazilian Grand Prix. Lauda's Ferrari took the checkered flag 21 seconds ahead of Patrick Depailler's Tyrell, 21 seconds with Tom Pryce finishing 3rd in a Shadow. James Hunt won the pole with a 2 minute, 32 second lap on the twisting, 4.9 mile Interlagos circuit. Jean-Pierre Jarier turned the fastest race lap, but later crashed his Shadow.

Urrm... what? So, I made a mistake on the county... I know where Interlagos is... my fingers don't however.

For January 26,

1906, Fred Marriott sets a Land Speed record of 127.659 mph on Ormand Beach in Florida. The car was powered by a Stanley steam engine and used an upside down Robertson canoe for the body.

1917, Edgar Barth was born. Barth was a DKW motorcycle racer who later switched to BMW sports cars and moved from the Communist block to West Germany in the mid-1950s. Barth won the 1959, 1963 and 1964 European Mountain Championships for Porsche and the 1959 Targa Florio. He had four outings in the German Grand Prix, the first with a factory Porsche Formula 2 car and the last in 1964 with a Cooper-Climax. Nine months later he succumbed to cancer. His son Jurgen also became a Porsche factory sports car driver and won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1977 with Jacky Ickx and Hurley Haywood.

1920, The Lincoln Motor Car Company was founded on this day. It was acquired by the Ford Motor Company just two years later. Under Ford’s protective wing, the Lincoln brand name flourished. Lincolns were entered in stock car racing and other events such as the Carrera Panamericana rally in Mexico.

1924, Paul Newman, actor, racer, and part owner of Newman-Haas Racing, was born.

1945, David Purley was born. The son a wealthy refrigerator manufacturer, David Purley had a taste for adventure. He joined the British Army and became an officer in the elite Parachute Regiment, seeing action in Aden and surviving a partial failure of his parachute during one of his training jumps. After leaving the military he started racing, being inspired by a friend Derek Bell, who lived in the same area. His first races were in 1968 with an AC Cobra and after this was damaged beyond repair he bought a Chevron sportscar.

He switched to single-seaters in 1970 with a Brabham BT28 in Formula 3 racing and ran a team called Lec Refrigeration Racing, named after the family business. He won his first F3 victory after just a few weeks, beating James Hunt by a tenth of a second in the Grand Prix des Frontieres at Chimay in Belgium. He would not win again until he returned to Chimay a year later. In mid 1971 he switched to an Ensign and his results improved and he won two races in Britain at the end of the year.

For 1972 he concentrated on Formula 2 with a March 722 and finished third at Pau but he returned to Chimay to win his third consecutive Grand Prix des Frontieres.

He switched to Formula Atlantic in 1973 but made his F1 debut in a March 731 at Monaco in 1973. Later that year he won the George Medal for his efforts to save Roger Williamson from a burning car at the Dutch GP. He turned his back on F1 in 1974, although he did try to qualify a Token at the British GP, and concentrated on winning in Formula 5000. He won the Gold Cup at Oulton Park in 1975 and the following year won six victories in 13 races to take the Shellsport British Formula 5000 title.

In the winter of 1976-77 Purley commissioned designer Mike Pilbeam to build a Lec F1 car and with the help of Mike Earle this was ready to race in 1977. Purley qualified for several races but in practice at Silverstone suffered a stuck throttle and crashed with incredible violence. Purley was subjected to the highest G-forces ever survived by a human being - 179.8G - when the car went from 108mph to zero in just over half a meter.

His life was saved by rescue crews at the scene of the crash but it took many months for him to recover from multiple fractures to his legs, pelvis and ribs. He did eventually have a second Lec F1 car built and did one or two events. In 1979 he raced in the British F1 series with a Shadow but then he quit racing and turned instead to running the family business and aerobatics. He had been a pilot since the early 1960s but while flying off the south coast of England in the summer of 1985 he crashed into the sea in his Pitts Special stunt plane.

1975, The Brazilian GP was run at Interlagos and Carlos Pace took the top honors, the circuit was to be later named after Pace. He and his Brabham won in 1:44:41. after qualifying in the 6th spot. Emerson Fittipaldi in his McLaren was only 5 seconds behind to finish 2nd and Jochen Mass in the other McLaren took 3rd. Jean-Pierre Jarier took pole and had the fastest lap of the race but retired with a fuel metering problem.

1990, Bob Gerard passed away. Bespectacled Leicester garage owner Frederick Roberts Gerard was one of the dogged British Formula 1 privateers who began racing in a Riley in 1933 but did not make his name until the immediate postwar era with a private ERA. He won the Ulster Trophy in 1947 and the British Empire Trophy on the Isle of Man on three occasions. He finished second place behind de Graffenried's Maserati in the 1949 British Grand Prix at Silverstone and later switched to Cooper-Bristols and competed in most British rounds of the World Championship until 1957. He retired as a driver in 1961 but continued to enter cars until the early 1980s. His wife Joan, who died in 1999, was also an accomplished competitor in her own right.

On a personal note, I attended the 1966 and 1970 Riverside NASCAR races. 1966 being my first "major" race. I've mentioned in another thread the sights of Curtis Turner flying over bumps and ravines in his off course excursions being an indelible memory...as was watching Jerry Grant driving out of turn 6 with one hand on the wheel and a sandwich in the other (!). A few laps later and Grant passed by, this time with a bottle of Coca-Cola having replaced the sandwich.

1970 was very memorable. Driving to the race through a fog bank in Pomona (it was so bad, cars alongside in the next lane of Mission Boulevard were barely visible). As mentioned in the entry, Parnelli Jones shattered the Stock Car track record only to have NASCAR officials move him back to 35th, essentially because Firestone didn't supply the remainder of the NASCAR calendar. The first time past the start/finish line in the lead, Jones gave an emphatic "salute" toward the press box - where the NASCAR officials were...the crowd went crazy.

Jim Cook's accident happened across the infield from the main stands at the entrance to turn 9. I'm glad I didn't see anything until the aftermath. We all thought there were two cars, one over each end of the wall...turned out it was just his. He was left wheelchair bound for the remainder of his life, which even more tragically ended in the mid 1980's, when he was murdered by a drifter that broke into his apartment in Riverside. Very, very sad.

Originally posted by Ray Bell Still no Teretonga?

Those jacketed enthusiasts who drove down there in their Hillmans and Zephyrs can't wait to relive the days...

Ray,

I've had Teretonga entries for the 24th and 25th. Granted, a bit sparse on details since I didn't have material with that info at the time I was putting the entries together.

When I was doing this for the online service, the lengthier race re-caps went over much better, so later in the year, I switched to an "every five year" format just for the purposes of saving length.

1899, Frenchman Camille Jenatzy captured the land-speed record (49.932 miles per hour) in a battery-powered automobile of his own design.

1904, William K. Vanderbilt set a new land-speed record of 76.086 miles per hour in a gasoline-driven Mors automobile at Ablis, France. It was the first major speed record to be set by an internal-combustion car. All previous records had been set by steam and battery-powered cars.

1934, F1 and Can Am driver, George Follmer, was born in Phoenix Arizona.

1974, Brazil, A fortnight after the opening round of the World Championship in Buenos Aires the teams gathered again in Brazil. Shadow had been forced to fly out a new car after the first lap crash in Argentina but despite some problems with the local customs authorities the field was in place for qualifying. Emerson Fittipaldi was pole in his McLaren with Carlos Reutemann's Brabham alongside while Niki Lauda confirmed that Ferrari was going to be a force to be reckoned with by qualifying third. He shared the second row of the grid with Ronnie Peterson's Lotus. Jacky Ickx was fifth quickest in his Lotus and then came Peter Revson's Shadow. The fourth row was shared by Mike Hailwood's Yardley McLaren and Clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari while the top 10 was completed by Arturo Merzario in the Williams-run Iso-Marlboro and Jochen Mass's Surtees.

The start of the race saw Reutemann jump into the lead with Peterson chasing him. Fittipaldi was third and Regazzoni fourth. Lauda was in trouble with a misfiring engine. For the first few laps Reutemann was able to keep Peterson behind him but on lap 4 the Swede took the lead and Fittipaldi moved to second. Reutemann would fade as his softer tires began to lose grip and he was overtaken by both Regazzoni and Ickx. Peterson remained in the lead until lap 16 when Fittipaldi outfoxed Peterson while they were lapping Merzario and went into the lead. Peterson then dropped back with a slow puncture and had to pit on lap 19. This promoted Regazzoni to second place and Ickx to third (a lap down).

It had been a dominant and very impressive performance by Fittipaldi.

1980, Brazil, The field was the same as had appeared in Argentina a fortnight earlier but this time it was Jean-Pierre Jabouille who was pole in his Renault, ahead of Didier Pironi's Ligier, Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari, Carlos Reutemann's Williams and Jacques Laffite's Ligier. The top 10 was completed by Rene Arnoux in the second Renault, Elio de Angelis (Lotus) and Jody Scheckter (Ferrari). Alan Jones had a poor qualifying and had to start 12th.

At the start of the race Villeneuve made a remarkable start to slot between Jabouille and Pironi to go into the lead. Laffite followed Villeneuve and at the first corner the order was Villeneuve, Pironi, Laffite, Jabouille and Arnoux. Reutemann's race ended almost immediately with a driveshaft failure.

Jabouille rapidly passed both Ligiers and on the second lap led his three fellow countrymen ahead of Villeneuve. In the laps which followed Villeneuve fell behind de Angelis and Jones. It was not long before Villeneuve pitted for new tires.

Pironi also pitted because of a skirt problem and so Jabouille was left with Laffite and Arnoux chasing. Laffite's race lasted only 14 laps and then the Ligier ground to a halt with an electrical problem. The Renaults were running 1-2 with de Angelis third and Jones fourth. Then came Riccardo Patrese (Arrows) and Alain Prost (McLaren) while Pironi was charging back up in seventh.

On lap 26 Jabouille suffered a turbo failure and so Arnoux was left in the lead and he remained there for the rest of the afternoon with de Angelis and Jones following him home at a distance. Pironi recovered to fourth with Prost fifth and Patrese sixth. It was Arnoux's first F1 victory.